Diary of a Wandering Girl
by Kori Tetsugaia
Summary: [What do you know, you're the diary of a wandering girl.] [Discontinued. But in the process of editing and moving to FictionPress.]
1. Start of a New Life

**Diary of a Wandering Girl  
****Entry 1: Start of a New Life**

_

* * *

__Dear Diary, _

_Whee! This is my very first time writing in you, so I hope I will be able you trust you into keeping my memories. My name is Kori Yuki Tetsugaia, or just Kori for short. I got you from my dad, and he wanted me to record anything that happened to me along the way in my adventure. He sent you all the way from a way bigger island, and it's called Victoria Island! Mom says the island we're on right now is really FLOATING above Victoria Island, and it's called Maple Island. I really hope that things will be good for me down there, and I hope everything will work out for me._

_It's time for me to go now! Mom's calling me. I'll write to you later._

_Sincerely,  
__Kori Tetsugaia_

Snapping the lock shut on her new, black diary, a young girl, only at the age of eight years, prepared to meet her father for the very first time, yet in turn leaving her mother behind. Taking the key to the diary, she tied it onto a brand-new black silk ribbon, slipping it around her neck to keep it safe. Stuffing the diary into her pack, she shouldered it, and stepped out of her room in her Maple Island home.

Her mother awaited her outside the house, bright, morning sunshine washing over them as a sweet scent of flowers wafted around them. A glowing smile covered her face, but Kori could still feel a sting of sadness as she and her mother walked down to Southperry, her mother keeping her safe by casting an odd spell called "Thunderbolt", killing any snails willing to come near them. She did not want to leave, yet she wanted to meet her father so badly. But she knew she had no choice to stay either.

As they arrived in Southperry, sunlight shimmered against the white, stone floors of, casting a beautiful reflection. There was Captain Shanks standing near the wooden steps up towards a large and majestic boat called _The Victoria_. Kori gazed at it in faint wonder until her mother pulled her forward gently, a warm smile on her face. Kneeling to her height, she spoke.

"Goodbye, my Kori. I will see you, perhaps when you are able to come back to Maple Island. For now, I hope that your path may be bathed in light, and no shadows come to cloud your way. Choose your path well, Kori." Kori nodded, eyes slightly watering.

"Goodbye, Mom," she said, giving her mother a farewell hug. Walking uncertainly towards Captain Shanks, she noticed with a start that she was taller than him… Holding a hand to her mouth to keep from giggling, she handed him a wad of one-hundred-and-fifty mesos. Captain Shanks accepted the mesos, and he leapt into the cabin of the boat, starting it up in a few seconds. Walking up the steps, Kori prepared to leave this world and to enter a new one.

Turning around to wave goodbye to her mother, she heard her call, "And say hello to your father for me!"

* * *

The boat ride was awfully lonely, yet mainly because there was no one else on the boat except for her. Staring out the window in a small daydream, she wondered what the inhabitants of Victoria Island would be like. Would they be kind, and welcome her, or would they be mean, and shun her for no reason? Would they perhaps be both? 

A loud '**thump**' of the boat landing jolted her out of her daydream.

"C'mon, girlie, you're here," called Captain Shanks from the pilot room. Gripping her pack tightly, she opened the cabin door, and stepped out to greet a new world.

Like in Maple Island, the sunlight was strong here, washing over this new place called Lith Harbor. Using her arm to shield the sun from her eyes, she made her way towards the east side of the harbor.

Suddenly, in her view was a large brute of a man clad in green, a rather silly looking Viking helmet on his head.

"Well, 'ello there, kid!" he called jovially. "'ow would yeh like to perti-suh-pate in a lil' quiz I got fer youngun's like you?" It took a moment for Kori to understand this man, but she slowly nodded.

"Good, good! Muh name's _Olaf_, yeh see, so… let's begin wit' the quiz, eh?" Olaf proceeded to tell Kori about the island of Victoria Island, and then started to ask her a bunch of questions about what he just told her. It took a while, but she finally answered all questions. Olaf laughed, a large booming sound that echoed all over Lith.

"Mm, good, good! I'm glad yeh know what's ter come, 'cause this place ain't gonna be too easy for yeh." He winked at her. "Bu' I think yer dad'll like to meet yeh now." Kori was confused, but suddenly she felt someone gently lifting her high into the air. Looking behind her, she saw a man, wearing black clothes. Hugging her close to him, he smiled at her.

Kori realized that this must be her dad, and she felt a burst of joy through her heart.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed, hugging him back, and he laughed, a soft, gentle sound that she liked.

"Hello, my daughter," he said softly into her ear, holding her close to him for a few moments.

… _Huh, my dad smells like vanilla,_ Kori thought. But she liked that smell.

In a moment, her dad placed her back down on the ground, looking at her with kind eyes.

"How is your mother doing?" he asked, patting Kori on the head softly. Kori smiled, and replied, "She told me to tell you she said hi." He laughed again, and then Kori saw her dad had long, black hair he kept in a ponytail at the back.

"Would you like to go home now, Kori? Or would you rather explore first?" her dad asked. Kori thought for a moment.

_I want to see how the house looks… but I want to explore too. Hmm… _

"Can we go home?" she asked, looking up at her dad. He nodded, and took her in his arms again, a faint scent of vanilla washing over her senses, making her feel slightly sleepy. She waved goodbye to Olaf, as her dad casted something weird. A blue Chinese symbol briefly appeared in front of him for a moment, and then he was off, darting through the forest behind Lith.

Kori felt the rush of wind against her face, and buried her face into her father's chest.

_So… sleepy…_

* * *

"Kori… Kori, wake up, we're home…" A soft voice roused Kori from her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open as she was met with the sight of her father's face. 

"Huh?" she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes with one hand. There was a gentle smile on her dad's face. Sitting up, Kori looked at her surroundings, noticing that they were in a sort of tree house, but actually in the tree instead of on top of it (which is silly, considering a tree house could fall out at any given moment if it were improperly built).

"What kind of place are we in?" Kori asked quietly, yawning one last time.

"We live in a town named Ellinia," her father responded warmly. Peering outside a clear, green-tinted window, her eyes sparkled as she took in the immense, bursting-with-life trees, watching strong rays of dazzling sunlight filter through the leafy canopy.

"Daddy, it's so pretty out here," she marveled, her eyes locked in place in wonder. "Do we live in the trees here?"

"We do… though sometimes it's very dangerous if you fall," he warned, motioning to the tall trees. Kori decided to move onto another topic.

"Dad, I'm only level seven… and mom was supposed to send me here when I was level nine. Why did she send me early?" Kori asked, a confused, childish look on her face. Her father gave a sigh, and responded, "Because your mother could not keep you there anymore. The, uh, 'terms' of Maple Island was that a person may only keep their children for eight years, which is how old you are right now."

Kori put a pouty look on her face. "Those are dumb rules." Her dad laughed, and brushed Kori's short hair from her large, innocent eyes. Her eyes… they had always been a different color from each other. For instance, her left eye was a deep, mysterious purple, while the other eye, the right, was a gentle ice-blue, though that may have been because his eyes were deep purple and her mother's eyes had been ice-blue.

"There's still a couple of hours before sundown," he remarked, glancing at a clock hanging from a wall. "You can go training if you like. I can come pick you up later from the Henesys Hunting Ground." Kori gave him a cute, happy smile.

"Okay, daddy!"

* * *

Kori swung her weak sword at a green slime that hopped by her, watching as it cut into its thin membrane, and green goo oozed out of it, giving a final squeak of death. Wincing slightly, Kori took an empty jar out of her bag and scooped up the green stuff with a spoon she had brought. Daddy said she could make lime jello out of it. (A/N: In my little world you can. x3) 

Turning around after she had finished scooping up most of the jello stuff, she picked up her sword again and leaned against one of the random haystacks scattered around in the Henesys Hunting Ground. Poking at a green snail as it crawled by, she sighed, bored. She hadn't even decided what job she would take in the Maple World.

Yet unbeknownst to her, that wouldn't matter soon enough.

_Maybe I should become a warrior… they look really strong even though they have to fight at a shorter range. Or maybe an archer, 'cause they look cool and they do lots of damage. Or a thief, like daddy. Or maybe a magician like mommy, so I can do random magic stuff too._

She giggled quietly to herself, catching a few strange looks from other passersby in the Hunting Ground. Picking up her sword again, she stabbed the green snail she had been poking at before, and it squealed and died, leaving only its green shell.

Fortunately for her, though, the green snail was a final trigger towards her level-up to eight, and she smiled a little. Maybe she could get another level in before dad came…

"Kori!"

Err, maybe not.

* * *

"I got to level eight today, daddy, and I wanna see if I can get another tomorrow!" Kori said excitedly during dinner, barely eating anything in her excitement. She poked at a piece of broccoli which she thought was staring at her, and then just stabbed it on her fork and ate it. It tasted nice. 

Her father just gave her a quiet smile, and even though Kori and barely been here for a day, she knew that her daddy was thinking about something, so she decided to ask.

"Daddy, whatcha thinkin' about?" she asked, cocking her head to one side in a questioning manner. He looked up at her from his thoughts, and, smiling weakly, only said, "I'm thinking about your mother, Kori. I wonder how she's doing…" He trailed off and he sat there for a while, staring off into space. Kori took the liberty of clearing the table for her spaced-out dad, and poked him for a while until he realized she was poking him.

"I – what? Huh?" he asked, head shooting up to take notice of his surroundings again. Kori giggled.

"I'm gonna go to sleep now, 'kay daddy? I'm tired," she said, giving an adorable yawn. He gave a slow nod, apparently able to fall back into thought without a problem.

Shrugging to herself, Kori brushed her teeth quickly and scooted off to bed.

"Good night, daddy," she said, even though he wasn't there to hear. "Good night…" And then she plunged into sleep.

* * *

W00t, hooray for starting a new story. Watch as horror and adventure unfold:o 

_Till next time,  
Kori Tetsugaia_


	2. Unprecedented

**Diary of a Wandering Girl  
****Entry 2 : My Only One**

_

* * *

__Dear Diary,_

_Today is the day I will hopefully reach at least level nine or ten, and I'm so excited, even though I still don't know what kind of job I will pick. Decisions, decisions! __I hope that I will be able to kill enough to reach level ten today, 'cause I get to use my new fruit knife that Mr. Biggs gave me back on Maple Island. _

_Anyways, I've got to go train now. See you later!_

_Sincerely,  
__Kori Tetsugaia_

Kori loved her diary. She had it only for a few days, sure, but there were so many things she could write in it! Her adventures, for a start, and so much more.

"Kori!" her father called from the living room. "Time to go." Kori zipped up her backpack, and headed out the door with her dad.

**

* * *

**

**Kori's Point of View**

Wiping sweat off my forehead, I sliced open another snail and took its bright blue shell, storing it for another time where I could sell it to the shop for a few mesos.

I checked my experience bar on a wristwatch thingy that had (magically) appeared on me when I became an adventurer. It measured my health status, my mana, and my experience collected while training. I saw that the green bar was extremely close to the max, whereas then I would level up, and the experience bar would fall back down to be eventually refilled again at a later time.

Just as I was knifing at an Orange Mushroom that had somehow made its way down from the third platform to the second platform, a shiny silver throwing-knife with a red string on its end came shooting by and embedded itself into said Orange Mushroom. It fell over dead with a squeak, its cap dropping off from its body.

_Darn… I almost had it, too._ Ignoring the carcass, I stepped over it and chose another target; a bouncy Slime. Its face annoyed me sometimes.

Jabbing the fruit knife sharply between its eyes, it squeaked angrily at me, its yellow eyes narrowed towards me. I jabbed the knife a couple more times before stabbing it where its gut would be; in this case, right under the mouth. The Slime wiggled feebly for a moment before dying, releasing a little squeak.

Another Orange Mushroom came barreling towards me, tackling me with a force strong enough to knock me over. I had at least tried to shield myself with my arm, resulting in a slight bruising of my forearm. Angrily, I cut at it, stabbing it directly in its head and then at its heart, with orange blood covering my knife.

_Meh… stupid mushroom._ The mushroom squealed, though it was not dead yet. Once again, however, another one of those same silver shuriken came blazing through the air and sank into the eye of the mushroom, killing it. I rolled my eyes as I saw a dude with a weird hat that looked like a giant upside-down brown bowl. He was wearing a somewhat silly-looking blue robe that looked like it was designed for use in a sauna. On his arm there was a weird shiny golden gauntlet thingy, and it was sort of like really shiny. He was also wearing big black shoe thingies with yellow straps that gripped the dirt underneath them, though I would think it'd have more use in a snowy or icy place. He grinned slyly at me and winked, tossing another throwing-knife at a harmless (to him) Slime.

Muttering something inappropriate under my breath, I sat down on a bale of hay to rest for a moment. Briefly checking my experience bar again, it read ninety-nine-point-ninety-eight percent. I sighed. A _snail_ would get me to the next level. I turned to stab a blue snail between the eyes, which would have killed it, but _yet another_ one of the silver stream-lined knives came sailing by and cut through it with ease before I could even poke it. I let a small growl escape my lips, and the same blue-robed guy came darting past with another grin on his face. Even though I was getting irritated, I would not let his annoyingness, um, annoy me. Daddy always said it was good to be lenient, whatever that meant. Daddy shouldn't use such big words around a little girl like me.

Jumping off the hay I was sitting on, I walked up the steps to another part of the Henesys Hunting Ground. Looking over the horizon past the Hunting Ground, I realized with shock that the sun was beginning to set, casting a pretty orange glow amongst the trees surrounding the Hunting Ground.

_Daddy should have been here hours ago…_ I thought to myself, feeling worried. Where could he be? Absent-mindedly I killed a Slime that had come bounding past, and ignored the green glow that sprung around me signaling that I had reached the next level. I even ignored the fact that I was now level ten.

_I know that Daddy and I live in a town named Ellinia… and that big Mister Olaf man gave me a huge map of the island… I think I could get home myself, using the Taxi service thing since I have enough money and they have a discount for beginners._

Leaving the Henesys Hunting Ground, I headed past the east gates into Henesys and talked to the Taxi guy.

"Where you heading, girlie?" the driver said, his eyebrow raised as if surprised to see such a young girl riding on a Taxi by herself.

"Um…" I began shyly, "Ellinia, I think. I need to get home." The driver unfolded a map and traced his finger along the pathway to Ellinia.

"That can be arranged, girlie," he said, a smile on his face. "Jump in." I nodded slowly. People here in Victoria Island are so weird…

* * *

"Thanks, Mister Taxi Driver Guy," I said, nodding politely and paying him with the proper amount of mesos. He grinned and sped off, back to Henesys. 

_Um… now which house does Daddy live in?_ I thought to myself, confused. I had to get home, and quickly, since the sun had almost totally disappeared behind the horizon line. It was dark out now, and I didn't want to get lost around here.

Who knew what kind of creepy people would be out here then?

For instance, that weird dude with big gray eyes and a big white beanie-hat on that made his head look big and blue flowerish earrings and had a weird white haircut with a part of hair going over one of his eyes and a white T-shirt on and weird metallic-ish pants on with weird silver boot thingies with blue soles and who was staring blankly at people as they passed by. (1)

He was creepy. (2)

Anyways, I climbed up ropes and up the ladders in search of the house with a dark blue roof. I always remembered that our house had a dark blue roof because the rest of the houses in Ellinia had lighter blue or red roofs.

For some reason, I felt a growing sense of dread around me, as if something terrible was about to happen. Looking up, I saw our house with a dark blue roof only a platform away. Jumping up to reach the ladder that hung down, I climbed up. I felt the sense of dread grow larger and larger with each tentative step towards my house.

All I knew was that there was something wrong here.

Cautiously, I headed up the porch steps, and, taking the key from my pocket, soundlessly unlocked the door. Immediately, I heard voices coming from the living room.

"Demetrius, you cannot allow that… _daughter_ of yours to roam this island! You know what she is, and what she will become," a harsh voice spat. It belonged to a man, I guessed. Another voice began to speak, this voice a deathly, hoarse whisper.

"Two is right. We cannot let your daughter continue to make her adventures here. She must be… destroyed." My breath caught in my throat. Destroyed? That meant…

They wanted to kill me. This time, my father's voice rang up, full of anger.

"I can't let you kill my only daughter. I don't care what she is, or what she will become. She is my daughter, and I will not allow you to harm her." His voice was full of defiance. But yet another mysterious voice came up, different than the other two voices previously.

"Two and Three agree with each other. I am inclined to agree as well, Demetrius. Do not forget you are in our debt that one day before…" the voice hinted. It was higher-pitched that the others.

I heard my dad growl.

"In that case, I will sacrifice myself to ensure that my daughter will stay alive." I froze. What was Daddy thinking? He was going to let those people kill him in order to save my life… but what would that give? I was barely experienced to go out into this world alone.

I heard faint amused chuckling come from the room.

"Not a very wise choice, Demetrius, but in your case… say goodbye to your daughter!" the first voice cackled, and in shock, I felt myself being pulled from behind the corner in front of the people by an invisible force.

I was forced to watch as one of them pulled a serrated dagger, and slit my Daddy's throat with it.

"Daddy!" I screamed, struggling in my invisible bonds. "Daddy!" Everything had seemed to happen in slow motion. With a slight gurgle of blood, my Dad fell back against the floor, dark red blood pooling beneath him.

He didn't get up.

* * *

T.T How sad. 

(1) Purposely meant to be a huge run-on sentence.

(2) Onee-sama, you should know who it is by now ;D

The next entry should be where the real story begins, and I don't think it'll be as short as this one. n.n

_Till next time,  
__Kori Tetsugaia_


	3. The Dark Howler

**Diary of a Wandering Girl  
Entry 3 : The Dark Howler**

* * *

_dear diary _

_my daddy is dead and its all my fault because hes dead cause he shouldnt have used his life for mine i miss my daddy what am i going to tell mom_

**_- Later excerpt from Kori's diary_**

* * *

Kori's eyes widened in absolute disbelief at the sight before her. Her face already had rivers of tears running past it, and a choking sound came from her throat. 

"Da-daddy…" her voice trailed away. Three cackled insanely, and from under his pitch-black cloak, sharp, glowing white eyes laughed at her.

"Farewell, _darling_!" he spat, a demented grin on his face. Gesturing at the wall, the invisible force that held Kori captive tossed her against the wall, creating a slight web of cracks. Blood sheeted down her face, blinding her, sanguine puddles dripping in front of her eyesight. The one who had slit her father's throat placed the knife in her limp hands, obviously wanting to frame her for his killing.

"Goodbye," they all hissed, and in a flash of purple, they disappeared, leaving Kori to fade away into unconsciousness, with the knife still in her hands, a blame left unwanted upon her shoulders.

* * *

Urgent whispers stirred Kori from her slumber. The whispers quickened, and Kori's eyes fluttered open, silencing the whispers. 

"Wha-… where am… I?" she murmured, blurred shapes huddling close to her. Dried blood encrusted her face, previously streaking from under her hair. A blurred hand placed itself on her neck, feeling for her pulse. Even to her, it felt slow and weak. A voice made itself heard, speaking out.

"If we don't get this girl soon to a hospital, she'll die. She's only about eight-years-old." Another hushed voice rose.

"But that knife in her hands… that dead man near the table… did she kill her father?" As soon as that arose, whispers broke out immediately, as if they were considering that fact. Even though Kori wanted _so much_ to argue, she could not, her body weak. Once again, Kori gave into the black that draped itself over her vision once more.

* * *

Again, Kori awoke to whispers surrounding her. 

"… and we believe this girl killed her father. What else could have happened? She had the knife in her hands."

"I… didn't… kill my… daddy…" Kori whispered. An indistinct shape swam into view, and she blinked a few times and raised her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes. A figure looked at another figure.

"She doesn't remember anything, either," the voice added as an afterthought.

"But… I do… they killed my daddy…" Kori mumbled, trying to talk sense into them. How could she have killed her father? She was only eight-years-old, and they could never send her to prison or any of those places, unless…

It was only then did she realize she was on an ambulance to a mental asylum. They had assumed she was truly the killer of her father, and in order to keep her from "killing" again, she would have to be sent here.

* * *

Kori was led by a guard in dressed in white to a weird shiny metal-walled room, with no windows or anything except for a wooden table with many vases of fresh flowers in them and the large metal door leading in and out. She guessed that door would always be locked then. 

"Here is your room, Ms. Tetsugaia…" the guard said, tone kind and polite, kneeling down to her height. Since then, her face had been cleaned and she had had a change of clothes.

Tears quietly welled at her eyes, and she looked at him and mumbled, "I didn't do anything bad…" The guard eyed her for a moment, but said nothing, only gently pushing her into her new room.

"Oh yes," the guard spoke up, "there's something you might like to have." Reaching into his coat, he pulled out Kori's black diary and a small black pen. Kori hurriedly accepted her items, staring silently at the cover until she retreated back into her room, the metal door closing tightly shut after her. Slumped against the wall, she sighed, tears once again silently trickling down her cheeks. She didn't know whose fault it was that her daddy was dead and that she was stuck here. Maybe it was her fault she had condemned her father to death because of her existence, or perhaps it was because those three people who wanted her dead in the first place.

_Maybe,_ Kori thought darkly, _it was my dad's fault…_ As soon as she thought of that, she mentally kicked herself. It was impossible for her dad to be at fault… was it?

Shaking her head wildly to dispel the thoughts from her head, she wiped the tears on her face with her sleeve. Daddy always said it wasn't good to cry…

Opening up her diary, she quietly scribbled a new entry. Kori didn't bother to use any capitalization or punctuation in her entry; she was just so tired. Relocking it and leaving it on the floor along with the pen, her eyes looked vacant as she blankly stared at a vase on the wooden table near the side. She just kept staring and staring, and even though she knew it wouldn't have any effect she still stared. Kori was channeling her anger towards the vase…

Suddenly, Kori cried out as the vase was enveloped in a purple aura and, without warning, flew off the table and crashed loudly into the wall behind her. She blinked for a moment, paused in shock.

_What… just… happened…_

The metal door in her room slammed open, and in rushed a different guard dressed in white.

"Ms. Tetsugaia!" he exclaimed, looking about the room for any signs of intruders. "What happened? And what did you do to that vase?" Kori was silent, shaking in fear.

"I don't… I… don't… know…" she said, staring blankly at the guard.

_Her eyes… they're awfully dull-looking… maybe she's sick?_ Still, he couldn't help but press her for the truth.

"I'm serious here, Ms. Tetsugaia, now please tell me what happened." the guard said sternly.

"I…" Kori's voice was visibly shaking. "I… don't… _KNOW_!" she screamed, her pupils suddenly dilating, her left eye turning entirely purple and her other a soul-piercing ice-blue. A amethyst-colored aura surrounded itself around the guard, lifting him high into the air, and with a flick of her wrist, sent him careening out the door, slamming into the wall behind him. The force of her throw was powerful enough to cause an incredibly large dent in the metal wall behind him, a few flecks of blood scattered about.

_Time to get out of here!_ Grabbing her diary and pen and putting it in a pocket on her coat, she leapt out of the room and tore through the hallway. Warning alarms all around her flashed a deep, distracting red, but she paid no attention. All of her attention was focused onto getting out of this place.

Without warning, however, a group of four guards leapt into view in front of her, forcing Kori to skid to an abrupt stop. They all had daggers or swords in their hands, ready to separate her head from her shoulders if she made a wrong move.

But Kori was ready for this sort of thing. Summoning the power she had before, she focused her eyes at them, and watched as another violet aura gripped the security guards in its grasp, and with another twitch of her wrist, forced them out of her way. Another crash was heard as they collided with a wall, and she saw the exit in sight.

Abruptly, though, large, thick, metal covers slid over the exit door, and once again she was sidelined. Kori growled thickly, and, pulling back her fist, punched the wall with all of her might. The metal door buckled in instantly, and even though Kori wondered exactly how she did it, she leaped over what was left of the door and made another wild dash for it.

Like any other mental asylum (or jail…), it had extremely tall chain-link fences that had sharp, barbed wire connected at the top, preventing anyone from climbing over it. This didn't stop Kori, however. Raising her right hand, her right eye glowed brightly as her hand glittered with building frost. Holding out her hand, a raging blast of razor-sharp ice issued itself out of her hand, freezing the fence, and with her other hand, which glowed a thick blackish-purple, she emanated forth a shadow punch, completely shattering the brittle iced fence. Small pieces of ice crunched under Kori's feet as she continued to run.

More and more alarms were heard from the asylum, but Kori paid no heed. She darted into the thick forest in front of her, leading back into the undergrowth of Ellinia. There were loud shouts coming from the asylum, shouting things like, "Resident six-six-six-one-three has escaped!" "She must be captured immediately!" (**A/N: If you understand Kori's resident number, cookies and kudos to you :3 If you don't, I suggest you write the number symbols on a piece of paper. :D**)

All of a sudden, Kori felt something sharp enter her leg, and she looked down a split-second to see that someone had fired tranquilizer of some sort at her, and it was making her leg feel extremely numb. Kori quickly reached down to pull it out of her leg, but the liquid had already made its way into her bloodstream.

_I have to get to a safe place soon,_ Kori thought tiredly. The tranquilizer was slowly taking effect, and if she didn't find a place to hide soon, she would fall unconscious and they would be sure to find her. Kori felt a drop of something wet fall on her nose. She looked up to the sky for just a moment to see that rain clouds were gathering, and they looked heavy and just about to burst with water.

As Kori ran past a tree, she caught something shadowy at the corner of her eye. A cave! She could rest in it for the night, and none of the guards at the asylum would be able to find her because it was mostly hidden by a large outcrop of rock. Limping quickly towards the cave, Kori felt both of her legs beginning to numb up. The rain clouds above her decided to let loose the liquid in their bodies, and a thin drizzle started up, soon escalating into heavy droplets of water that splashed all around her.

Finally reaching the cave, she collapsed on the stone floor, panting. She was so tired, and she felt like just curling up right now at the front of the cave and falling asleep. But she knew she couldn't, because she was too close to the mouth of the cave. Slowly pulling herself farther into the cave, she was soon enveloped in shadow, but Kori didn't care. The only thing she hoped for was that nothing else lived in this cavern…

And then the young girl, who had been through so much today at only the age of eight, fell asleep.

* * *

Kori woke up in the early morning, pale sunlight shining its way into the cave by a small hole on the top of the cave. Blinking groggily, Kori inhaled deeply as she remembered everything that happened the previous night. Reaching into her coat, she pulled out her diary, and untied the key from around her neck. Putting the key into the lock and twisting it clockwise, it opened with a gentle click sound. 

Once again, Kori couldn't help the delicate tears that welled in her eyes again. Wiping them away before they fell, she breathed in again softly, picked up her pen, and started to write something on the very last page of her diary. She didn't know why it was the last page, or even why she was doing this, but something in her mind just told her to do it.

Soon, Kori finished the entry to her diary, and she closed it up again, not bothering to reread it like she usually would. Clicking the lock back into place and retying the key back around her neck, Kori slipped it back into her coat's pocket. As Kori stood up, she felt unbalanced and dizzy, and leaned against the cool cave's side for balance. Kori looked out the cave at the sunlight, and it hurt her eyes momentarily. Absent-mindedly, she retreated farther into the cave. Turning around, though, she saw with amazement that the cave had some sort of passage in it. Kori was slightly afraid of what might be down the passage, but she grit her teeth in determination, and slowly, slowly walked down the hall.

Although Kori knew she should be feeling uneasy right then, she felt eerily calm instead, like whatever was at the end would not harm her in any way. Turn after turn, she walked, her pace slow and steady. The hall was wide, and tall, not thin and narrow, and it made her feel at ease not to be cramped up in a tiny space with little to no room for maneuvering.

It felt like forever to Kori as she kept on walking on the path, and though her eyes had adjusted to the shadow around her, she was beginning to be tired of this.

But just as soon as Kori felt like turning back, her eyes spotted a faint, purple glow emanating from the end of the hall. _What's that there?_ Kori thought to herself in wonder. Easing herself cautiously towards it, just incase it was a monster of some sort, she readied herself. But, what came into her vision was something different entirely.

There was a circular room in front of her, its walls littered with strange, ancient-looking symbols that looked as if they had been there for centuries. However, the carvings upon the wall were not what captured Kori's attention.

It was a large stone, with an even larger black, glittering sword embedded in its rocky depths. Her eyes widened at the sight. A memory buried down from long, long ago flashed into her mind, causing her to fall onto her knees, holding her head in pain.

_Why… why is this happening? Why is there so much… pain?_ Kori thought, as a sharp thorn of pain speared its way through her heart. _Make it… stop…_ Kori winced, and for some reason, felt her hand reach out towards the large sword that was even bigger than her. _Wha… what am I doing?_

As soon as Kori's hand came into contact with the sword's handle, the pain abruptly came to a sharp end, with only a tiny twinge of what was once left. _What happened…?_ Kori didn't know. Kori staggered back onto her feet, gripping the sword handle tighter. When she was solidly on her feet, she stared at the blade implanted in the rock. It looked familiar, but she didn't know how. Kori suddenly realized that this was a sort of dark version of a Blue Screamer sword, one that her father had in a glass case hanging from the wall. When she asked about it, her dad only said it was very, very rare, and he was lucky to have one. Where there was blue on the original Screamer, there was a jet-black, and where there was supposed to be the red tassel at the end and the red spot near the blade, it was a deep purple. Below the sword, there was a small silver plaque with an English inscription on it. Leaning closer to it, Kori slowly read aloud, "Dark… Howler…"

Without warning, the sword suddenly released an unexpected burst of purple light, and it wrenched itself out of the stone with a crunch. Kori felt a gripping pain seize her body, and she felt stiff and frozen. Black ribbons shot out from the Dark Howler and wrapped themselves tightly around Kori, pushing the breath out of her. She gasped for air, the ribbons squeezing tighter and tighter on her small body. Just as soon as she thought she was about to pass out from lack of air, an echoing, ominous voice spoke out to her.

"Daughter of Demetrius Tetsugaia and Charessa Tetsugaia…" the voice began. "Your spirit has been judged worthy of taking control of the Dark Howler. However, one last test awaits you within the crevices of your mind. If you succeed, you will be granted knowledge greater than that of the most intelligent magician; more strength than the strongest warrior; more speed than the nimblest thief; more precision than the most accurate bowman. Your powers will know no limits."

By now, the ribbons had slackened enough to allow her to breathe, and to speak.

"I… what? Power? A test?" Kori was absolutely mystified. What was going on?

But the voice no longer allowed any thoughts to come from her, as in a moment, she felt unnaturally drowsy, and passed quietly into unconsciousness.

_**

* * *

**_

Kori felt her eyes gently flutter open, and she sat up from her earlier position sprawled on the ground. As soon as she inhaled for air, she regretted it, because the air was chillingly cold. A faint wind had started up, but even though it wasn't blowing very hard, it stung her face. Getting up off the ground, and back onto her feet, she shivered. Looking around her, she saw that the floors were an abnormal cold blue, and ruins of white structures littered the ground. There was nothing in here, with the exception of her.

_What kind of test is this?_ Kori thought, feeling slightly out of place.

A feral, ground-shaking roar shook her out of her thoughts. Kori's head snapped up, and her eyes widened in fear as she took in the sight before her.

It was an enormous, hulking monster, clad in bloody red armor, wielding an even bigger red-tipped sword. Its bare skin was covered in thick, matted fur, and its eyes glowed a destructive, luminous white. Kori's heart skipped a beat; those were almost like the same eyes that the man who killed her father had… The monster snarled at her, its jaws open wide, as if it were laughing at the tiny, tiny girl in front of it that it could have crushed with its clawed foot. It looked about ready to leap at her, readying its hind legs for the jump. But before it did so, the same voice from last time spoke to her once again.

"In order to defeat this monster, you will require the use of your powers and all-in-all smartness. When you are ready, nod your head." Kori listened to the instructions intently. Summoning her powers… was the voice talking about the energy she had experienced during her run for it at the asylum? The telepathic force created by the focus of her mind and eyes, the ice and shadow emanating from both her arms…

Kori narrowed her eyes towards the beast that towered over her. Suddenly, she didn't feel afraid of it anymore. Slowly, Kori nodded her head, awaiting the start of the conflict.

The hulking beast before her roared deafeningly, and leapt into battle with Kori. It brought down a humongous fist, missing Kori by a hair's width. Where its fist struck, a large crater was torn into the ground, and Kori winced. Darting off to the side, Kori charged up her right arm, snow and ice swirling around it. Rushing forward, she gained enough momentum to run right up the wall, and launched herself towards the monster. Landing on its shoulder, she brought her hand down and watched as the ice spread across its shoulder plate, and with a snap of her fingers, it shattered, a few long deadly shards of ice embedding itself painfully into the creature.

Screeching in pain, the monster flung Kori off of it, and made move to impale her with its crimson blade as she sailed through the air. Instead, Kori turned herself in mid-air and landed on the ground on all of her arms and legs, like a cat. Leaping back to her feet, Kori wasn't prepared for the swipe of the creature's claws.

Sent flying back into the wall, with a shallow claw mark on her body, Kori groaned in pain, feeling dizzy.

Staggering back up again, Kori felt a new sensation race through her. It felt like excitement and energy, and once again she flitted towards the wall, ran up its side, and leaped off the wall again. Kori landed on top of the monster's shoulder again, this time only her eyes glowing as she brought forth the telepathic power she had within her. Another heavily-shaded violet aura encircled around the monster's helmet, and, motioning to the side with her hand, wrenched off the beast's helm. It landed upon the ground with a cave-rumbling thud, jarring a few stalactites small from the ceiling. Kori looked up, and saw the answer to killing the beast. Now that she had removed its thick, metal helmet, it was now vulnerable to any sort of sharp object. Raising her left arm, she sent forth a blast of shadow racing towards the ceiling, and with a sharp _**crack**_, the largest stalactite broke free of its bond to the ceiling and rushed downwards to meet the beast's head.

As it fell, Kori sprung backwards off to the wall behind the creature, and watched as the calcium icicle sank into its head, blood spraying everywhere. Kori covered her eyes, and waited for the loud crash to signal that the beast had fallen.

It didn't come.

Looking back up with shock, Kori had no time to avoid the red sword rapidly cutting through the air towards her.

"_Sh… Shadow Guard!_" Kori shouted out, and instantly, before the gargantuan blade sliced her in half, a tall, powerful black wall rose around her, and the blade's strike bounced off with a clang. While she was covered by the wall, Kori was quickly formulating a plan. She supposed the beast was almost dead anyway, so Kori believed she only needed one final strike to kill it.

With her mind, Kori instructed the shadow wall to bring itself down, and it disappeared in a flash. The monster's eyes before her flashed a rippling white, and it released a raucous shriek, launching itself at her once again. Yet Kori had wanted this to happen, and as its arm reached towards her to grab her and crush her, she bounded forward, jumping on each of its hands as it continually made a grab for her. Eventually, it lifted her higher and higher, until she was level with its face. Grinning, Kori pulled back her right fist, like she had done so many times before to deliver the finishing blow. Again, a cold aura twirled around her arm, and she surged forward and struck the beast with her tightly-clenched fist right in its face. Ripples of ice scored outwards, freezing its face, and as Kori hovered in the air, held aloft by her already-strong telepathy, she raised her left leg and kicked it in its grimacing visage again as hard as she could.

The monster did not get a final chance to even growl as it was annihilated, by only a young girl at the age of eight.

Landing on the ground softly with a thump, Kori suddenly felt exhaustion flood over her like a pounding tsunami, yet it was balanced by the fact she had defeated such a thing. Falling to her knees, she closed her eyes for a moment, resting quietly.

Suddenly, Kori heard clapping coming from all sides of her, and she got to her feet, though painfully, as the claw cut on her chest began to bleed again.

"_Well done, my daughter._" Kori's attention was instantly caught by the voice's tone. It was the same as her fathers, and Kori's heart felt a painful twinge go through it. But nevertheless, Kori looked up to see her transparent father standing before her, his hand held out to help her back up. Kori uncertainly took his hand, but when she felt her hand resting solidly in his, her eyes brightened happily.

"Daddy?" she asked, looking up. "Is that really you?" Her eyes were full of question. He smiled. "_Yes…_" Kori leaped into his arms, her chin resting on his shoulder again. She felt tears brimming into her eyes again.

"I missed you so much…" Kori said, enjoying again the scent of vanilla that washed over her senses, soothing her.

"_I cannot stay long though, Kori…_" her father said, looking her in the eye, and setting her back down. "_I was watching you throughout the whole battle, and I must say, you truly are worthy of receiving the Dark Howler. Who would have thought a girl the age of eight would be able to defeat such a monster? But I am also very proud of you Kori._" Kori's heart swelled at her father's praise for her new-found abilities.

Reaching behind him, seemingly out of nowhere he pulled out the Dark Howler, and, smiling gently at his daughter, set the handle into her hands. The black sword suddenly emitted a pure white glow, forcing Kori to shield her eyes. The world around her was fading- along with her father. But as he and the scenery around her was disappearing, she heard him say, "_I love you, Kori. I will visit you again…_"

And then he was gone, while Kori was falling into an endless black abyss, her hand clutching the Dark Howler. She felt drowsy, and closed her eyes.

* * *


	4. Painful Losses

**Diary of a Wandering Girl  
****Entry 4 : Painful Losses**

_

* * *

_

_I believe to have uncovered an unimaginable secret to power. It seems most impossible, though not. It started with a cave, and then evolves powerfully into learning the secret of the Dark Howler. I have now been gifted with the best attributes of anyone within the Maple World. I will begin my trek across the world now; I no longer have any true place. _

_What do you know, you're the diary of a wandering girl._

_Sincerely,  
__Kori Tetsugaia_

* * *

"Mmph…" Kori made a faint mumbling sound as something disturbed her from her sleep. Attempting to bat away what was interrupting her, she was only met with open air. Cracking open one of her eyes just a tad bit, she regretted it almost immediately. Strong rays of sunlight bore down on her, forcing her awake. Kori groggily brought one of her hands to her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them, sitting up in the process. It was only then where she noticed where she was.

It seemed Kori was in the middle of the Ellinian forest, twigs and dirt covering her pants and top. Immense trees loomed over her, casting shadows towards the east. Looking ahead, Kori also noticed the sun was setting to the west. Shakily standing up, Kori felt something heavy resting on her back. With growing excitement, it did not take long for Kori to realize the Dark Howler was strapped to her back, enclosed in a scabbard. Pulling it from its sheath, she deftly swung the large, bulky sword around with one hand. She truly was powerful now; she could feel the energy coursing wildly through her veins. Suddenly Kori looked down at herself, surprised by the colors her clothes had changed.

Instead of the blue-combo shirt-and-coat she had before, it had changed colors and the material had become suddenly tougher and much more durable than normal fabric. It felt hard as steel, yet light as a feather and easily flexible. Where it should have been a light, calm brown, the coat-part was a dark black, the once-yellow sleeves light blue; the shirt itself had changed from the same yellow to a quiet gray. The at-one-time teal section of her shirt was a fierce purple, and the happy, blue heart in the middle had changed to a blank white color. Her pants had changed as well; it was now black instead of blue, and down the sides there was a diamond-like pattern of white, fading to a dull blue, then back to white at the ends. Her blue white-bottom shoes had transformed in color too, to a shade of violet.

It was strange, Kori thought, that her newly-colored outfit looked perfect for creeping around at night, since the colors were barely illegible from casts of shadows. But Kori was missing something as well; something to tie her hair up in so it wouldn't get in the way. Deciding to search her father's old house for the desired item, Kori re-sheathed the Dark Howler and darted off towards the forest-town of Ellinia.

* * *

Kori's feet rushed underneath her at an extremely fast rate, her feet barely touching the ground at all as she tore through the now-dark forest, the sun having set a few minutes ago since her departure. However, it did not make it harder to navigate through the trees, her vision seemingly looking through the dark as if it were day. That and Kori was aided by the serene white glow of the moon hovering overhead, casting her shadow through the trees. When Kori saw her shadow thrown by the moonlight, it gave her an idea. Her left eye started to glimmer a bright purple, and she whispered,

"Hey, shadow. I'll race you to Ellinia." Almost immediately as the words left her lips, her silhouette tore away from her rushing form, becoming a thing of its own. It gave a shadowy smile at Kori, and said in her voice, "You're on." Kori grinned. She liked competition. Kori's shadow leapt into the treetops, apparently willing to take the race to the top. Kori followed suit, jumping from branch to branch to branch to branch as she made her way up to the very tops of the trees.

Skipping from one tree's crown to another, Kori began to laugh, and her shadow laughed along too. This was actually fun, and it was also the first time Kori had laughed since her father's death.

Kori and her shadow continued to race each other, sometimes her shadow pulling ahead, and sometimes Kori herself sprinting ahead too. Soon, very soon, the faint bright lights of Ellinia shone out beyond the trees, and Kori slowly eased herself out of top-speed, calling her shadow back as a normal shadow as well. Dropping down from the tops of the soaring forest's trees, Kori landed neatly on the ground with a soft thump. She was barely within the boundaries of Ellinia, and Kori recognized the same creepy person she had seen a few days ago being surrounded by angry people who were defaming him and another magician girl next to him.

Bah, serves him right for being so creepy anyways.

Besides that, however, nothing too new or interesting was happening in Ellinia, and Kori walked up the grassy platforms up to her dad's house. Her heart ached as Kori remembered the faint feeling of dread she had felt the night when he was killed. Quietly walking up the doorstep, Kori noiselessly opened the door and stepped in.

Her vision was instantly greeted by the sight of seeing people dressed in blue, police-like uniforms. Fortunately, they did not spot her, as she was silent as a ghost, and well-hidden in the crevices of shadow. Just to make sure they couldn't see her, she used her powers over darkness to cloak herself from the naked eye. But Kori couldn't help but overhear what they were talking about.

"… quite a shame Demetrius is dead. He was perhaps one of the best Hermits out there, with his excellence in just about everything. This'll put quite a big dent on our forces though. The war to fight in the future will be tougher without him." The words shocked Kori. War? What was that said about a war? Kori shook her head, unwilling to listen to any more. She just wanted to find what she needed and then leave.

Kori's search found her in her dad's room, where her dad slept and did stuff like write on random papers and things on his desk. Her heart felt a slight twinge spear through it again, but this time Kori ignored it. Opening up his drawer, she instantly spotted an object she could use to keep her hair from falling into her eyes. She reached into the drawer and pulled out a black, square-shaped cloth. A black bandana.

Taking two ends in her hands, she neatly tied it about her head, successfully keeping her black tresses in check. Her hair was straight and short, only to about her shoulders, and it curled slightly at the tips.

_I've got what I need now,_ Kori thought. _I can leave-_ A sound of breaking glass ripped Kori from her thoughts, alarm rushing through her. _What was that?_

Kori ran out of her father's room, and looked in horror to see that one of the so-called "police officers" had broken the case holding her father's prized Blue Screamer, and had taken it out of its case.

"Lovely blade," the policeman grunted, greasy hands ruining the shine of the sword's blade. "I think I'll take this. Demetrius won't mind, heh…" But Kori would not allow it. Rage streamed through her veins, and she summoned her shadow to snatch it from the policeman.

Her silhouette darted forward and seized the sword, easily able to grasp the hilt from the officer's startled hands. The shadow handed her the Blue Screamer and disappeared. Turning, Kori busted a hole into the nearest wall behind her with a single crushing kick. Kori heard a faint tinkle of glass and looked down to see a picture at her feet, portraying Kori standing by her father smiling happily and him looking down at her, a smile on his face too.

Leaning down, she grabbed the picture and hid it in her coat pocket. Rapidly, Kori realized her shadow-cover was fading away, and the two officers in her house were standing shocked. She grinned to them both.

"_Sayonara_," Kori winked, before darting off into the night, her dad's Blue Screamer in tow, the only picture she had of her father whom she loved dearly in her coat's pocket.

* * *

Once Kori had reached the safety of the hidden cave she had found which held the Dark Howler, she sat down heavily, panting and clutching the Blue Screamer's hilt in her left hand. She sighed, momentarily letting go of the Blue Screamer in order to reach the photo she held in her coat pocket. Kori stared at it for a moment, a melancholy look in her eyes.

She could not change the past, but she could change her future now.

Kori found her sheath for the Dark Howler was large enough to fit the Blue Screamer easily into it as well, so now both blades were in the same sheath. This way, Kori would not lose either of them. Exhaling quietly, Kori folded up the photo again and stuck in inside her pocket.

_I heard Perion is beautiful at night…_

* * *

Kori felt the Perion wind ruffle her hair, as it blew gently. She had climbed to the very top of Perion, and enjoyed the sight before her. The moon's visage was unmistakably visible through the clear, crisp Perion night sky. Sights like these helped Kori to feel better, more calmed and relaxed. But this was not the only reason Kori was here.

Going back to what the officer at her father's house said earlier about a war, she knew she had to talk to the warrior's chief, who knew most about war and battles.

Turning towards the large double doors that lead into Sitting Bull's chamber, she pushed it open, and stepped into the room.

Seemingly, Kori had interrupted something, as Sitting Bull was seated in a chair around a circular table, apparently having a conference with the rest of The Four Wise. In an instant, four pairs of eyes were upon her, all in surprise. There was a pause following Kori's arrival, and even the fire crackling merrily on the torches seemed to grow hushed.

"So…" Kori drawled, her arms crossed, shattering the silence. "What's this I hear about a war?" There was another bout of stillness trailing her words.

The Dark Lord stood up. "What is a child like yourself doing here?" he demanded in a hard voice. Kori noticed he had a claw equipped and a sharp dagger on his belt.

Raising her hands as a gesture of peace, she said, "Hey, I just want to know about this war you speak of." Master Hines spoke next, his voice gentler and quieter.

"What does an adolescent your age intend to do about it?"

"Like I said, I only want to know some stuff about it. You gonna tell me or not?" Kori said simply. The Four Wise shot looks at each other, The Dark Lord sitting back down to his seat.

"You are only eight-years-old, are you not? You cannot hope to do anything about the war we will have against the monsters of this island." Sitting Bull broke in roughly. His skin was tough and battle-hardened, tanned dark-brown with constant exposure to the sun.

Kori sighed in a mock-defeated tone. "Fine, fine. Don't tell me anything; I'll find out myself," Kori broke off mysteriously, turning to leave. For a moment, Kori paused, glancing at The Four Wise over her shoulder.

All four of them had stunned faces to see the two powerful blades strapped to her back. Athena Pierce of the Archers shot a glance at Sitting Bull, murmuring, "Where did she get those blades?"

"Before I leave…" Kori said quietly, pulling the Blue Screamer from its sheath with one hand. "Take care of this sword for me. It was my father's sword. I expect you to watch over it carefully…" A glance of indifference made its way to Kori's eyes while she set the Blue Screamer on the floor beside her. "Goodbye…"

And with that, Kori pulled open the door and melted into the night.

* * *

Effortlessly darting from one rocky bluff to another, Kori leaped and jumped and sprung towards Kerning City, wanting to explore the whole island before she found a way of finding out about the war herself. Soon, Kori found herself at the start of the L Forest, where different kinds of monsters roamed around.

For some reason, there seemed to be little to no monsters wandering around. Kori knew, deep inside her mind, that monsters did not go to sleep very often, always ambling around until they saw an adventurer, whereas then they would try to hurt the traveler. Even at night, they did not slumber.

Kori straightforwardly made her way towards the dark city in front of her. Constantly, gray clouds hung around the area, never disappearing to let the sun through. Kerning City was always in shadow, and that was actually why all the thieves who dwelled in the dark alleys of Kerning were incredibly pale, white as vampires and virtually as snappish as them when exposed to the sun's rays.

Landing onto the dark-brown cement streets, people everywhere hustled and bustled even though it was midnight, and she saw a sewer-like place where a few people were roaming about. It was a strange place to be indeed.

Out of the blue, Kori suddenly bumped into someone and fell on her bottom, cursing slightly as she stood up again and profusely apologized to the person she had crashed into, dusting herself off. She looked up to see the individual, and he looked at her with a strange look in his eyes. Kori blushed, saying, "I'm sorry sir, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…"

From what he was wearing, Kori gleaned that he was an assassin with a level sixty set of armor-like clothing on; a Scorpio set. Though she didn't know why she automatically knew that, she left it at the back of her mind.

"Do I… know you from somewhere?" he asked quizzically, eyeing Kori with a critical stare. It made Kori feel uneasy, but nevertheless she replied, "I don't know… are you supposed to?"

"You seem very familiar to me… wait. I know you. You're… you're the girl that escaped from the asylum, aren't you? Kori Tetsugaia?" Kori felt cold. Should she run? But she didn't want to. Kori didn't feel threatened by this random man; it felt like she knew him somehow. Then it struck.

"Hey… you're the guard that gave me my diary back." Kori said, gazing up towards the tall man before her. He grinned. "I guess we both recognize each other, hmm? What happened to you? I heard you escaped somehow. The captain of the retrieval team said he saw you break right through that fence and run towards the forest. He… he didn't shoot you, did he?" Kori heard what seemed like a tone of worry run through his voice. Allowing herself a childish smile, Kori said, "How about we get to a place that's less crowded? I promise I'll tell you everything."

He grinned back. "In any case, the name's Alex. Nice to meet you. Again."

* * *

Alex leaned back in his chair in the Kerning City bar.

"So…" he said, one eyebrow raised in a skeptical manner, "you're telling me a guy out of three mysteriously-cloaked people killed your dad, you were blamed for it, you discovered strange powers in the asylum, after getting shot in the leg with a tranquilizer you found a cave and rested, and in the morning you found a passage that lead to a hidden chamber with a giant sword stuck onto a rock?"

Kori nodded calmly. "That's right. I can prove it, too." Alex nodded.

"Go on; show me the sword thing you've got." Standing up, Kori withdrew the Dark Howler from its sheath on her back, holding it to Alex's face.

"Whoooo," he whistled, impressed. "That's a big sword." Kori placed it back in the scabbard and sat down again.

"Listen, Alex. You're… er… level sixty-or-higher, right?" Alex nodded his assent slowly, wondering where this was going.

"I… well, I visited Sitting Bull's living quarters this night. He seemed to be having a meeting with the rest of The Four Wise. I heard them say something about a war. Would you… happen to know anything about it?" Kori stared out the dirty window outside at the rising sun peeking over the horizon, its rays mostly hidden by sad-looking gray clouds. _That reminds me of something… it seems… from so long ago… I remember -_

Abruptly, Kori heard a crash near Alex's direction, jolting her out of her thoughts, and she whipped forward to see he had fallen out of his chair in shock.

"Alex!" Kori yelped, jumping to his side to help him up. He shook his head a couple of times, and sat back on his upright chair. For now, Kori had forgotten about what she was thinking of before.

"Know anything about it? Of course I do! I'm captain of the Lower-Thieves squad." Alex had an excited look on his face. "The whole of Victoria Island is preparing for a war against the monsters of this island. Apparently there is a man leading all of the monsters to attack us. You've seen how nearly no monsters are wandering on the outskirts anymore, right?" Kori nodded in agreement.

"And if there are any, they don't bother attacking you." Kori remarked, remembering her walk through the L Forest. Alex nodded his consent.

"That's because they've mostly been amassing in the very center of the island. Sleepywood has not been harmed yet, though we have many guards stationed there in case of an abrupt attack -"

A loud ringing sound interrupted Alex mid-sentence. Fumbling in his pocket for a moment, he pulled out a communicator-type thing. There was a frantic muffled voice on the other line, and Alex spoke into the communicator.

"What?! What do you mean, Sleepywood's being attacked by an army of Jr. Balrogs?!" Alex roared, fury causing his voice to shake. "Crap! We weren't expecting them so soon! Damn it, Dan, I'll be there ASAP." Alex closed up his communication device, and prepared his claw.

"Listen, Kori, I'll have to cut this conversation short. I need to get going – to Sleepywood." Kori stood up too, determination in her eyes.

"I'm coming with you too, Alex, whether you like it or not. You have not seen the full expanse of my powers." Alex stared at the little girl in front of him for a moment. "No. I'm not taking you with me." With those final words, he reached into his pocket and took out a Sleepywood return-scroll. He ripped it in half, and disappeared in a flash of light.

Kori cursed quietly under her breath. He had gone without her!

_No matter,_ she thought casually, _I can find my own way to Sleepywood._

* * *

Darting through the thick jungle-like plants of the Swamp of Despair, Kori dodged the low-hanging branches of multiple types of trees and avoided the lazy-but-fierce Ligators and Crocos. _A little bit farther and I'll be in Sleepywood._

Leaping from a patch of ground to the next, Kori dove through a hole in the brush and landed on her feet, tearing through the ever-shorter stretch of land between her and the portal into Sleepywood's boundaries.

Landing onto the dark, grassy-dirt ground, Kori found herself in a cool, damp place full of all kinds of plants and flowers, growing so large that they sometimes covered stairways and such with their thick vines. It was rather shady in this place, though Kori enjoyed it. It was a far-cry from the warmth of the sun, but it was good relief as well. Pushing her way through the underbrush, Kori directed her way towards the village of Sleepywood.

_I've got to hurry… I can hear them fighting._ Indeed she could; there were deafening roars coming from the middle of Sleepywood and the yells and screams of people battling against them. A seemingly-endless onslaught of Jr. Balrogs flooded out of the Ant Tunnel entrance. Dead people were everywhere, tossed and discarded like useless rag dolls. It hurt Kori's heart to see all the dead people such like this. It was as such, they had died bravely defending the underground sanctuary. The remains of battle were littered all over the ground, a few things on fire and weapons discarded everywhere.

Immediately drawing her Dark Howler from its sheath, Kori sliced a Jr. Balrog's arm off as it had been sneaking up on her, about to summon an enormous meteor to slam into her.

Black blood spurted from its stump of an arm, and it howled in pain. It growled at Kori, before using its other arm to swipe at her. Nimbly jumping back, she leaped on it, and cut its head straight off with another swing of her blade. With a thunderous thump sound, it landed upon the ground, obsidian blood pooling under it. _One down, about a hundred more to go… How do I make this a winning fight? _It was clear to Kori that the humans were not winning the battle.

_Time to use a bit of my own magic._ Raising her right arm, her ice-blue eye flashed, and instantly, seven Jr. Balrogs were incased in a frigid ice-block. Kori grinned, dashed over to the clump, and shattered them with a swipe of her Dark Howler. Tiny crystals of ice danced across the floor before melting into the singed grass. Whipping around, Kori used her left hand to cast a blinding shadow over a group of Jr. Balrogs that had cornered two humans, huddled together. It seemed they were both very young toddlers.

Roaring with fury, the Jr. Balrogs stumbled around, unable to see anything before them. A flash of black later, they had all been decapitated. Flicking her sword to the side, droplets of ebony blood were flung off, falling onto the ground unceremoniously.

Suddenly, without warning, a shape came hurtling past Kori, only a few inches from her. Spinning around, Kori saw, to her horror, that it was Alex. He was bleeding heavily from claw-marks on his torso, shoulder, and legs. Alex had been thrown and crashed through a wooden board; he was lying on the ground, slight drips of blood pooling onto the ground.

"Alex," Kori cried, rushing over to him to analyze his wounds more closely. The injuries were actually much deeper than she had seen, and he was losing blood very quickly.

It was simple to know that Alex was dying.

Kori fumed, trying to look for something that would help him to survive. Alex's eyes were open a crack, but Kori could see that they were dull and glazed over. A tiny trickle of blood ran from his mouth, landing silently upon the grass. For a moment, Kori thought she could see a glimmer of light return to his eyes, but it disappeared in a flash.

Feeling something wet travel down her cheek, Kori put a hand up to look at what it was. It was only then did she realize she was crying. She couldn't stop; soon, her vision was clouded by damp, salty tears. Furiously, she wiped them away, but only to have the liquid reappear and cascade down her face again.

"Alex," she choked, shaking his arm. "Alex, wake up." He did not move. His eyes closed for one moment, then they opened a tiny bit more.

"Kori…" he rasped, staring at her with weak eyes. "Get… out of… here…" Kori only shook her head feverishly.

"No, Alex. I'm not leaving you here. Like I said, you have not seen the full expanse of my powers…" Kori could not help but let a tiny, tiny smile crease her face. She gripped loosely onto Alex's arm, but she could feel that his pulse was growing weaker and weaker with every second.

"There's… a man… looking for you… you have to… run…" Alex responded, his voice growing quieter and weaker. "His… name is -"

But Alex did not get to finish his final words. His eyes became glazed again, his arms drooped, and he fell back to the earth again, scattering drops of scarlet everywhere. The pool of blood around him gradually increased in size. Kori screamed, but it was too late.

Alex was dead.

* * *


	5. The Silver Truth

**Diary of a Wandering Girl  
****Entry 5 : The Silver Truth**

_

* * *

_

_It appears that one of the first friends that I've had is now dead. Was it merely an accident? It seems like everything and everyone I come into contact to ceases to live._

_Sometimes, though, that can be a good thing. I'm just not sure when it will come through._

_Sincerely,  
__Kori Tetsugaia_

* * *

Kori knelt upon the black, burnt grass of the once-peaceful town of Sleepywood, staring into the lifeless eyes of Alex, her lost friend. Tears coursed down her pale cheeks, and slowly, very, very slowly, she got to her feet, drawing her Dark Howler from her sheath again. Turning towards the Junior Balrogs who continued to stomp the houses and people of Sleepywood flat, a new fury erupted from the pit of her heart. It was like a flood, knocking down each and every one of her senses until she could take it no longer. The torrent of rage rocked against the barricades of her sanity, until finally it broke through, releasing anger like never before seen in the likes of a little girl. 

_They… will… pay._ Leaping into the fray, Kori's eyes burned a frigid, screaming ice blue and a burning, hissing dark purple as she continually cleaved the Junior Balrog's heads off, black blood spurting everywhere, staining the ground, where then the thirsty ground began to drink it up. They say that once the earth has gotten a taste for spilled blood, it will continue to crave it forever, causing many battles to be held over it… Kori was not about to disappoint. There was a new power rising in her soul, and she was not going to let it slide by.

Swing after swing tore off bloody appendages from each and every one of the hairy, winged apes, though many times her size. Using each falling body as a spring, Kori continually launched herself at the howling beasts, slicing off slabs of flesh and perhaps a few arms or legs as well. It felt good to Kori to have no limits as to what she could and could not kill.

Suddenly, Kori found herself surrounded by seven Junior Balrogs that she had not seen before, their jaws snapping hungrily and claws raised to rip her body into shreds. But Kori would never go down so easily. Raising the Dark Howler upward, swirls of white ice and black shadow spun around it, building up power quickly.

As the Junior Balrogs advanced, regardless of her deadly blade, Kori's eyes flared and she spun forward towards the first Balrog, slicing through its fleshy tissue, like it was as easy as killing a worm. Again and again she spun continually in a dance of death, her sword held out in front of her, the blade facing the side. The Balrogs froze, and were immediately shredded into bloody ribbons, splattering drops of their black blood on her face. Within mere seconds, they were all dead, the bodies of the Balrogs and people alike. Emotionlessly she surveyed the scene around her, staring at all of the bodies lying around pale, lifeless, and mangled, their blood drained into the ground.

Wiping the blood carelessly from her face onto her sleeve, Kori was abruptly aware of a wave of fatigue that hit her. Dropping her sword and pressing a hand to her head, she fell to her knees, lost in a swell of dizziness and nausea.

"What… what's happening to me?" she whispered, before raging darkness draped itself over her again. Her eyes closed, and with a soft thud she fell upon the blood-soaked grass.

_

* * *

_

_everyone is dying. why is everyone dying? there is blood everywhere. screaming and suffering. the terror rains upon the land. they are battered. they are weakened. evil monsters are rampaging everywhere. why? _

_**because of the threat that will plunge the world into a living hell.**_

_suddenly there is a light. a light. it is bright and glowing. but it is not a happy glow. from the glow descends a shadow. a shadow out of place. it is an evil shadow. it does not belong. and yet it is still here. the shadow makes everyone hurt. but who is that shadow? what is it?_

_**nothing but a nightmare turned into reality.**_

_the shadow steps forward. all becomes dark. the sky has faded. the sun has died. only the moon is here to guide everyone now. moonlight shines upon the land. it shows the glitter of blood. fallen blood. this blood does not belong outside either._

_**too much of it has been spilt lately.**_

_the shadow walks across the land. his slaves of darkness scamper after him. they only serve him because they are afraid._

_**of the torture he could bring them.**_

_they are afraid of the shadow._

_**because of the pain he caused.**_

_he is pure terror. his eyes glow white. i recognize that white. it is the man who killed my father. i feel sadness. i feel anger. most of all. i want revenge. i shall start with the beginning. i will start slowly. and then i will meet him._

_**i will climb to the top.**_

_and then we will fight._

_**it only depends on who will be victorious.**_

_i will make sure i win. because if i do not win. the whole world will suffer._

* * *

Kori's eyes snapped open, only to be shut immediately after, due to the glaring white light shining directly on her face. She heard an annoyingly high-pitched voice speaking. 

"Master Grendal, sir, she is awake." Then she heard a door opening and shutting. Then there wasn't any sound. Slowly, Kori sat up, wincing at a dull pain in her stomach. She looked down, only to see it was wrapped in a bandage. Tiny spots of blood were peppered at the central area.

"What happened?" she murmured aloud, running her hand gently across the bandage. A soft, gentle voice interrupted her thoughts.

"That is what I want to know, young one." Startled, Kori looked up, and saw the perceptive, wrinkled face of Master Grendal, the leader of magician town Ellinia. Looking around at her surroundings, Kori realized she was in the magician hospital. Bright white lights blared down from a high ceiling, and the ceiling-to-floor window showed that it was dark, peaceful night, while Kori was sleeping upon a soft white bed with soft pillows. The moon shone in the middle of a blanket of a million stars, glittering and twinkling serenely. The sight of the moon soothed Kori, and a feeling of peace washed over her, until she remembered the battle in Sleepywood and the death of Alex, one of her very first friends.

_Is everyone close to me destined to die?_

"Miss Tetsugaia," Master Grendal said quietly, bringing Kori out of her thoughts, "can you tell me what happened during the battle of Sleepywood?" Kori was silent, debating whether or not to tell him. Slowly, speaking the words so softly that Master Grendal had to lean in slightly just to hear her, she said, "I killed the monsters. By myself. Everyone else was too busy being dead."

Master Grendal was quiet for a few long moments. And then quietly he replied, "How?" Kori sighed, keeping it simple.

"I took my sword and slashed them all to bits." Master Grendal was quiet once again. Then, in a slightly strangled voice, he murmured, "I will be back. I must bring the rest of the Four Wise." And he disappeared in a flash of blue.

_Where's my sword…?_ Kori peered all around, only to see that her Dark Howler was lying on the table pushed into the wall. Kori swung her legs over the side of the bed to go get it, but a sharp sting in her stomach wound stopped her in her tracks. She cursed silently, and lay back down on the bed. It was only then did she notice her clothes were replaced with a white hospital gown, and her normal attire was lying in a neat pile on a chair, clean, dry and free of blood.

_I hate white hospital gowns…_

Kori set her head back on the pillow, one arm draped gently over her stomach.

_It sure takes the Four Wise a while to get here…_ Kori fumed. _Would they hurry up already?_ But, as if answering to her question, a flash of blue later and all Four Wise were standing around her, questioning looks in their eyes. Raising his hand into the air, Master Grendal summoned forth four chairs made of wood. In one smooth, fluid movement, they all sat down around her bed, four pairs of eyes on her. Kori couldn't help feel slightly uneasy, look at each one in turn, but Sitting Bull, leader of warrior-town Perion, broke the glassy silence.

"What happened?" he asked gruffly, looking intently at Kori.

_I might as well tell them… it won't make much of a difference. _Shakily, Kori took a breath and began her story.

* * *

A hand shot out from the darkness, taking a rough hold of someone by the shirt. 

"What… did… you… say?" hissed a dangerously quiet voice. Glaring white eyes shone from the darkness, every bit filled with frightening, darkening anger.

Hurriedly, the person in his grip stuttered, "She – she's still alive, s – sir…" With a furious flare of his white eyes, the man clutched in his hand immediately had his throat torn out. Limply he hung there like a rag doll, bleeding all over the floor, the white-eyed person watching as it slowly formed into a thick puddle of crimson. He carelessly dropped the body onto the floor, not paying any more attention to him. A door in the dark, shadowy room opened, and a ray of light from the other room shone into it. The white-eyed killer hissed in annoyance at the disturbance and light, and retreated further into the shadows that were left.

"You didn't have to do that, Two," a high-pitched voice said from the door of the room.

Nonchalantly licking the blood from his claw-shaped hands, he cursed aloud. "This will not do, OneThe girl… Demetrius's daughter… she must be killed"

He ran his hand across the wall, leaving a dark red streak of blood. His glowing, blank eyes narrowed maliciously.

_She must be killed… immediately._

* * *

"And so I woke up here…" Kori finished quietly, trying her best to ignore the looks coming from the Four Wise. She watched them exchange odd looks with each other, debating whether or not Kori's story could be true. 

"You are saying," Athena Pierce, leader of archer-town Henesys began, "that you destroyed all those Junior Balrogs by yourself?" Kori nodded, looking down at herself, avoiding the dissecting gaze of the Four Wise.

More looks were shared.

"Err… have you any… _proof_ that you slain them by yourself?" Master Grendal said, picking his words carefully. Kori's eyes flared, though she looked down at her stomach wound instead of meeting their eyes.

"You are the proof. I know you saw what I did." All four of them around her stiffened. Sitting Bull shot all the others a 'how-did-she-know' look. None could answer his question.

"We must… excuse ourselves. Grendal shall be here in a few minutes to discuss with you… about your 'abilities'," the Dark Lord said calmly. Each of them got up from their chairs, heading out the door, shutting it quietly.

As soon as they left, Kori felt her heart drop in her stomach. What was going on? She just wanted her life to be normal, like any young eight-year-old. Kori felt her vision getting blurred by tears, and she silently wiped them away, watching them drop onto her white hospital gown, causing a spread of gray where the salty water hit.

Hearing a soft 'click' of the door opening, Kori looked up in alarm, only to see it was just Master Grendal entering her hospital room.

"Miss Tetsugaia…" he said softly, "we have come to a decision." Kori sat in a stony silence; yet her eyes betrayed her interest in what Master Grendal was going to say.

"We have spoken about your skills. You may not have known it, but there were more than fifty Junior Balrogs that day that you had slain."

_Fifty…_

"The four of us would like to ask you to join our ranks to defeat the monsters and the evil that is plaguing our island." Kori's eyes widened, playing the magic-user's words in her head over and over again.

'_The four of us would like to ask you to join our ranks to defeat the monsters and the evil that is plaguing our island.'_ Suddenly Kori recalled the dream she had had while she was unconscious on the grasses of Sleepywood. She remembered the deathly terrifying pictures and the words that made themselves known in her dreams. A dark chill ran down her spine. Then she remembered the white eyes staring at her, mocking her from the shadows. Those white eyes… she hated them; hated them so much. She wanted to tear them out. But she knew she couldn't.

At least… not until it was time for her revenge.

"Miss Tetsugaia?" came Master Grendal's soft, wise voice. "I will need your answer so that we can begin preparations." Kori swallowed hard, staring at her bandaged stomach wound, and the tiny flecks of blood scattered on it. Then, steady and unblinking, she raised her eyes to meet his questioning gaze.

"I accept."

Master Grendal smiled slightly. "Thank you, Miss Tetsugaia." His tone was gentle and truthful, but Kori had a growing feeling that Master Grendal and the rest of the Four Wise knew much, much more than they let on.

* * *

Three days later, Kori's stomach wound had healed. Not fully, though, but at least now she could get up without feeling the sharp sting of pain she usually felt. That day, Master Grendal wanted to introduce her to people that she would be sharing a house with in Ellinia. Kori blushed a faint shade of red when Master Grendal told her it would be a group of six boys that she would need to share with. Getting dressed into her normal clothing, she finish tying on her black bandana and put on her sheath with the Dark Howler in it. 

First, however, she was walking with him up to the top of Ellinia, where his magical library filled with all sorts of knowledge lay.

"You may want to read a few books with information about the leader of these monsters," Master Grendal had wheezed, using his cane to balance himself and using his teleport ability to reach up to platforms floating in the air. Surprisingly, for an old man with equally old bones he was very swift. Kori had quickly climbed up the ladders and ropes and hopped over gaps separating the platforms just to keep up with the teleporting Ellinian leader. It brought a pang of sadness to her heart as Kori remembered that she had climbed up these very steps with her father a time ago.

Her old life felt so long ago, when her father was there, warm and supportive, staying by her side no matter what. It only made Kori's fury grow larger when she remembered the fateful day when he had sacrificed himself for her. _Your sacrifice wasn't in vain, Dad. I'll get revenge – for the both of us._

Unconsciously, Kori had been climbing up to the top of Ellinia while she was in her thoughts, and in an instant when she returned to the outside world, she found with a bit of surprise that she was about a step away from the door leading into the magical library itself. Shaking her head slightly, she watched Master Grendal open the door with a tap of his cane. The vine-laden doors opened with a flourish, releasing a faint gust of refreshing cold air. Kori shivered slightly, but it was much better than the burning heat outside. Entering the door, the library was silent, save for the occasional murmuring of people inside the library, reading books or researching things.

"Come with me into my study quarters," Master Grendal rasped, hobbling over to a hidden door set into the far-off wall. The door swung open cleanly, and Kori peered inside. The room was very large, with several shelves lined up with the wall with fat, old books in them, and was dimly lit with several hovering candles strewn about the room in different places, illuminating his study quarters with a faint orange glow. It was warm and inviting in here, and quietly, Kori stepped inside, followed by Master Grendal.

"I have a book you may want to read," remarked Master Grendal, handing her a large, thick book about the size of a normal dictionary. "I must attend to something." Master Grendal spoke, and walked out the door, shutting it behind him.

The book looked worn and dusty, and its leather bounding was wearing away slowly with the passing of time. It was so old, in fact, Kori couldn't even read the title of the book. All she could make out was a letter in the shape of a "T", two letters that read "Fa" and the last was "His". Shrugging, she opened the worn-out book, coughing as years of dust flew off the pages.

To her chagrin, Kori found that the book did not even have a table of contents. In fact, from the frayed edges still stuck in the book, it seemed that someone had actually ripped out the page where it was supposed to be. She fumed, thinking, _Why can't anything be easy for me?_ Kori sighed, randomly flipping the yellowed-with-age pages, hoping to find at least some sort of clue as to what kind of book this was. She was bored, until she turned to the next page. She saw something that made her blood boil and made her eyes narrow in anger.

It was an illustration of the white-eyed monster that called himself 'Two' or something. The same… 'thing' that had killed her dad. The same thing that haunted her dreams at night. The illustrated picture depicted an image of the white-eyed figure tall and dressed in a dark black coat, with only its eyes and mouth visible. They were narrow, and its mouth was open in a wild scream of twisted laughter. It chilled Kori's soul just looking at it, regardless of the fact it was only a picture. But it just seemed so… real to her. Below the picture, there were several lines of small, black, neat text. Kori turned her gaze from the illustration, and read the descriptions.

"_**The description of this demon who calls himself 'Two' would be sadistic and uncaring. 'Two' has been behind many deaths, mostly in the case of revenge, or a debt owed by someone. 'Two' is actually a real demon, with the power of mind-control and telekinesis. Often, he will strike at his victim's dreams as they sleep, and slowly drive them insane.**_"

Kori snorted. _That figures… he's a freaking demon. No wonder he seems so powerful._ Looking back down on the page, she continued reading.

"'_**Two' has two other brothers, who call themselves 'One' and 'Three'. Apparently, these three call themselves the 'Lords of Ruin'. It is quite a fitting name, for they have caused the downfall of many ancient cities, destroying all and never really conquering anything. The Lords of Ruin only destroy.**_"

Kori felt a growl rise low in her throat. _They are destroyers… it's like they just kill and kill and kill and kill unless there's nothing left for them to kill. And then after that, they just find something else to kill._

"_**However, 'Two's past is fairly simple. Born as a human child, he watched his parents, who were demons themselves, get killed before his eyes. Assuming that it changed him, making him cold-blooded and heartless, he began practicing the dark arts, eventually learning of his demon blood ties, thus becoming much more powerful. With each person he kills, he gains their strength, until eventually he will become unstoppable.**_"

_Unstoppable? Not if _I _can freaking help it. _Her free hand clenched in a rush of anger.

"'_**Two' has many other relatives, most who do not wish to be related to him as they know of the turmoil and destruction he has caused. There is an approximate total of at least one-hundred relatives which share the same family name as he.**_"

_I wonder what his family name is…?_ Kori wondered to herself, her eyes cautiously wandering up to look at the illustration of Two. Her eyes spotted something at the corner. Squinting, Kori saw it was tiny text at the bottom, saying something. It looked like a name. Perhaps it was his real name? Kori leaned her head in closer and squinted harder.

_Daikirai… that must be his first name. But…_ Kori's blood ran cold as she read the last word aloud.

"… Tetsugaia."

* * *

A slow cackle rose from the depths of the dark, empty room, escalating into a mad fit of wild laughter. But the room was not completely empty. In the very middle, there was a man. Or at least he looked like one. He, in truth, was a demon. Yet not all demons were monsters, this was the type of demon that killed ruthlessly. Not for conquering, but for mere pleasure for killing things. Destroying senselessly, murdering without mercy. It was his lifestyle. 

It was, simply put, who he was.

A dark ball of crystal hovered in the air in front of his face, his piercing white eyes gazing hatefully into it as his twisted laughter died down. A sad, gray haze spread from the crystalline ball, enveloping the whole room with its intoxicating mist.

"So…" he hissed. "She's found out her family ties. Let's see how she deals with that, shall we…?" And he peered closer, a sadistic grin on his cloaked face. The image inside the crystal ball flickered every once in a while, showing a real-time image of Kori, standing there, shocked silent, staring at the book with his image on it. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. He watched hungrily as she dropped the book in utter disbelief, and he saw her back away from the book, as if it were a deadly serpent rearing its head to strike at her.

He crowed with vicious mirth, watching her intently. _Mm… perhaps it's time for me to visit her…_ And he placed his hand over the crystal sphere, closing his wild white eyes. His face had a malicious, deadly grin, and slowly, he became transparent, and finally disappeared.

The crystal ball's haze faded, and it grew dark, falling to the ground and shattering on impact.

_

* * *

_Kori paled as she read the tiny inscription on the corner of the picture over and over. _There is no way I… I could be related to… that… **thing**_. She hurriedly dropped the book and left it on a heap on the floor, backing away from it quickly, as if it were going to eat her whole. _I can't… _But her thoughts were cut off by a sudden chill, and something whispered into her ear. 

"Ah, but you are. However, it is rather rude to call someone a 'thing'."

Kori froze. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a black-cloaked shadow standing beside her, but that was when she recognized the same mocking, sly white eyes that she had seen so many times before hiding in the cloak's hood. Her panic quickly transformed into rage, and her eyes darkened in pure anger.

"What do you want?" Kori hissed, whirling around to face the demon behind her. Kori did not forget her weapon sheathed on her back, ready to pull it out as soon as he decided to attack. But he just stood there, a purple-black mist beginning to swirl around him. Kori only glared at him with murder in her eyes.

"My, my, Kori _dearest_," he spat the word 'dearest' as if it were a curse word, "that is no way to treat your relative! Why, what would your mother think of that…?"

Kori snarled at him, "Leave my mother out of this. She didn't do anything to you." He only tipped his head back and loosened a horrible, grating laugh that sent a faint line of pain through her mind. He raised his hand, and in an instant Kori's hand was at the handle of her blade. She only ignored the fact she was pale, and shaking slightly. He eyed the blade with his ivory, staring eyes, and then looked back at her. It made her feel uneasy, like he was boring a hole through her.

"Do not be afraid," Daikirai murmured, lowering his clawed hand slightly. Kori did a double-take; was that a hint of… _affection_ in his voice?

Shakily, she shot back, "I'm not afraid!" Suddenly, without warning, he shot forward, and took hold of Kori in a chilling embrace.

"Then why are you shaking?" he whispered into her ear, sending dark chills down her spine. Kori was petrified. What was he doing? She was shaking much more than before now, feeling weak at the knees. A frigid, cold mist swept over her senses, leaving her feeling slightly light-headed for some reason. Then Kori felt something icy touch her forehead, and then all went black.

* * *

(This part is kind of gory. Be warned. ;o After all, Daikirai is a strange one, isn't he?) 

"_M-mom? D-dad?" a voice stutters. It belongs to a little boy with silver hair and a glowing silver mark on his cheek. He is standing in the middle of the forest, his weak, frail voice echoing eerily, disturbing the creatures of the night as they lift their wings and disappear into the dark night sky, guided only by moonlight. He is clutching his shoulder, dripping with blood. He had been wounded. Limping over to a clearing, he hears voices. Cautiously, he peeks into the clearing from behind a tree, and his heart skips a few beats._

_His parents are laying there, with several cuts all over their bodies. They are bleeding all over the once-green grass. Now, it is stained scarlet. Tears begin cloud his vision, and he loosens a thick, but quiet sob. Suddenly he is aware of several people dressed in black, surrounding the clearing along with his dying parents. His mother looks up toward them, a gash on her face stretching from her forehead down to the middle of her throat. A river of crimson runs from his father's back, and he can see, with surprise, that black wings have sprouted from both their backs. His father has leather-like wings, and his mother has black feather wings. They hang over them limply, sometimes giving a weak flap every now and then. You could have seen, in his eyes, pure horror and raw fear._

_One of the men dressed in black step forward, sneering. He delivers a sharp kick to the side of his father, earning another spout of blood. The boy was pale, and very much frightened, yet extremely angry about how they were treating his parents._

_Rage, and despair flood through him, as he hears the man in black say, "Bloody demons… I don't see why The Council need you dead. You're not much of a threat, hmph." His mother glares up at him and hisses savagely at him, causing him to step back. But suddenly he pulls a knife and plunges it into her back, causing the blood pooling around them to grow bigger. There is so much blood, the ground is unable to soak it all up._

_The little boy with silver hair chokes in a sob, hating having to just watch his parents die like that. He clenches his fist in anger, yet he is unable to do anything, only watch. From the throng of people standing around them, another man comes forward. But this man isn't completely wrapped in black garments, like the others. Instead, his arms show, and anyone could see that there were strange tattoo-like markings tracing all over._

"_So…" he says coldly. The silver-haired boy watches anxiously as the tattooed man eyes his mother and father disgustedly. "… remove their wings." he says carelessly, turning from them both. Two men in clad in black step forward, deadly-looking knives in their hands. They both kneel down, and with four quick swipes, slice off both his mother and father's leathery, black wings. In an instant, the wings begin to rot, separated from their users, the rough skin and feathered cover hanging raggedly from ivory-white bones. None of them cry out in pain – they hold no emotion in their eyes. To the little boy, it seems they're already dead. He is wondering what his parents are, and why the people in black are doing this to them. His heart aches. He wants so much to help them, but he can't. He is only a little boy, with no powers._

_Or so it seems._

_In their final dying moments, his mother and father look up to see him peeking behind a tree, and they clearly see the pain in his eyes, though his is far away. They both smile, and mouth 'I love you' one last time before the man with tattoos unsheathes a sword and, with a heartless sweep, cuts their bodies in two. Their eyes become glassy, and both their bodies burst into ashes. As if on cue, a freezing, merciless gust of wind blows them away, leaving nothing of their passing but a large puddle of blood, and two pairs of rotted wings. Hardly anything to go by._

_The boy watching slaps a hand to his mouth to keep from screaming. Watching his parents being murdered before his eyes makes his mind scream and his heart twinge sorrowfully, but it was the 'I love you' that hurt the most. Why?_

_Simply said, because they __**didn't**__. Their smile did not reach their eyes. Instead, they were full of hate. Their eyes told a whole different story. They said, '__**This is all your fault**__.'_

_They said, '__**I hate you**__.'_

_As soon as the boy comes to realization to that, he falls to his knees, sobbing, ignoring the stab of pain that erupts from his shoulder. Lucky for him, the men in black did not hear. But it was also unlucky for them, they did not hear._

_If they had heard, they might have stood a chance._

_The little, cowering boy hiding behind a tree was no more. Instead, he is shaking violently. Not with despair. Not with sadness. But with pure, steaming, burning rage. His teeth grow out into long, sharp fangs, and in his hand a silver blade, the same color as his hair, materializes, made of his own resentment toward his parents for blaming their death on him. His eyes glint. He must find something to kill – the instinct is suddenly driving him insane. The whole world suddenly turns a shade of red, like his vision has been drenched with blood. He can see the men clad in black; he can sense the blood pumping through their bodies – he wants to rip apart their flesh, sink his teeth into their skin – he wants to kill._

_He __**has**__ to kill._

_In a flash, the boy's wound to the shoulder has healed, and in another flash, three of the black-clad men are decapitated, and he watches, grinning insanely as blood spews from their severed necks. In alarm, the whole group of men dressed in black clothing turn to see another fallen body spurting blood from a deep slice into his heart; suddenly there is a flash of silver darting through the trees and another man is dead, all of his limbs cut off and strewn about in the blink of an eye. Everyone draws their weapons, but it is of no use. A harsh blast of silver pulls the weapons from their hands, embedding themselves deeply into a tree – so deeply that more than the tips are protruding from behind. The man with tattoos curse._

"_Come out, wherever you are. I know you are a demon. I know that you're just as blood-thirsty as anything else!" he hisses. The boy hiding in the shadows does not answer, clutching the handle of his weapon so tight his knuckles turn a pale white color. The bloodlust in his eyes do not fade, and even though he has killed four men so far, he is not satisfied. He wouldn't be satisfied until deep into the night, as he chases his prey with unimaginable demented glee on his face._

_The silver-haired one decides to keep the tattooed man for later. He'd kill him; in due time. The rest, however, were going to die. He was going to make sure of that._

_In a glare of white light, two other men lay dead, throats slit unmercifully. Now, everyone is panicking, even the tattooed man though he doesn't show it, wondering what type of demon would be so… powerful. Suddenly there is another dart of silver, and before anyone can register what was happening, a man screams in agony as a boy, looking no older than the age of _twelve_, sinks his unnaturally sharp teeth into his neck, ripping through the tender flesh and rendering the man dead in a millisecond, tasting the copper sensation of blood fill his mouth. The boy darts from person to person, either sinking his teeth into their neck and tearing out their throats or plunging his spectral knife into their backs, ripping downward and exposing their bloody spines._

_Within minutes, all the men in black are dead, save for a few which run into the forest, hoping to escape, and the man with tattoos on his arms. He is in shock, unable to register any of the information rushing at him through his eyes. He sees the boy licking blood carelessly off of his hands and dagger, and tries to escape before he can see him. There is no such luck, as the boy whips his attention towards the tattoo man. He stalks silently towards him, like a predator tracking its prey. There is fear in his eyes; the silver-haired boy can sense it. His glowing white eyes narrow coldly as he steps forward, and the man steps back, falling to the ground. The white-eyed predator raises his knife, about to plunge it deep into the man's heart, until the man talks to him._

"_You're just like the rest of them," the man with tattoos scoffs. He doesn't seem to care he's about to die. At him speaking, the boy's hand with the dagger in it falters. The boy tries to ignore his words – until the man strikes a point on his nerves._

"_You're just like your parents, the weaklings." he says, glaring at him with cold, __**purple**__ eyes. The hand falters more and more, shaking violently, as the boy struggles on whether or not to kill him. He falls to his knees, clutching his stomach in a sudden spasm of pain. The pale, moonlit dagger in his hand disappears in a cloud of white sparks, and no longer does the boy feel his anger, but regret and disbelief at what he has done. He feels the tears welling up in his eyes again – then remembers the man in black he was about to kill. He looks up – the man has disappeared. The forest is quiet, for a long, long time. And finally, the boy, completely exhausted, falls to the forest floor, blood on his face, seeping into the ground._

_The forest is quiet once again._

* * *

The cold feeling on Kori's forehead lifted, and she gasped in terror. Tears had been running down her cheeks freely, and her shirt below her face was soaked with tears. Kori felt the swish of black robes around her, and with a start, she suddenly remembered that she was in the embrace of the person she had seen murdering so many people. With a burst of fury, she pushed him back with all of her might. He merely only glided away from her smoothly; it was like he didn't have any legs and he was merely levitating. 

"So…" he whispered icily, "you know of my past. Do you know who that man was; do you know who that was who killed my parents, who _called me weak_?" he spat, his piercing white eyes drilling a hole through her. In another frigid whisper, he asked, "_Do you know who awakened the demon inside me; the so-called 'monster' that I am now?_"

Kori could not answer, her face ashen and her legs shaking. Those purple eyes she had seen in Daikirai's recollection; _they were_ _so much like hers._ In an instant, she realized.

"… my dad…" she whispered. With an almost air of satisfaction, Daikirai nodded coldly.

"You may also want to know he was a demon himself." Daikirai remarked coolly. Kori's heart skipped a beat. _A demon… himself?_ Impossible; she had never seen tattoos on his arms or anything –

"He also married a demon – your mother. In truth…" he leaned in close to her, his glacial mist making her shiver, "_you_ are a full-blooded demon yourself." Kori's head swam; the words coming out of his fanged mouth didn't record correctly in her mind. Then she found a loophole in his story –

"If I'm a full-blooded demon, then how come I've no access to any powers or something?" Kori said defiantly, looking up at Daikirai with narrowed eyes. To Kori's chagrin, he let out another one of his grating laughs.

"Of course you have access to powers, _dearest_," he said, chuckling slightly, placing a claw hand over his sharp-toothed mouth. "Don't you remember the day you found that Dark Howler? I believe it detected the demon blood inside you, and granted you half your abilities now. However…" He grinned devilishly. "Your powers only come in full when you reach the age of… _thirteen_." Kori scoffed. "I'm only eight. It'll take five years for me to age thirteen. By then I'll have beaten you. I know I will." Her eyes narrowed angrily. Daikirai only snickered.

"I don't believe so. You don't even have enough courage to slash at me now, do you?" he whispered, his eyes glowing malevolently. Kori twitched. She growled, and in a flash her blade was drawn, pointed at the cloaked figure of Daikirai.

"You'll regret those words when I'm about to cut you to ribbons." Kori hissed, glaring daggers at her murderous relative. He only smirked.

"Quite the arrogant girl, aren't you?" he murmured, gliding back a few inches from the tip of the blade. He waved her off, only grinning devilishly, and said, "No matter. You're already where I want you to be anyway. And the next time we meet, I presume you will fight me with all of your power. His words sounded odd to her. _Where I want you… to be?_ Suddenly, Kori took notice of her surroundings for the first time since she was reading the book. She was in a completely different room! Behind Daikirai, Kori eyed a door that lead back into Grendal's magic study. Apparently, while the vision took place inside of her head, Daikirai had lead her into this room. But why? The answer came soon enough.

"I'd like to give you a gift," Daikirai said nonchalantly, as if giving gifts were part of his nature. Kori cocked an eyebrow at him. _A gift?_

Without warning, or any hint of what he was about to do, Daikirai lurched forward and pushed Kori hard backward with his clawed hands. Kori cried out – but was soon silenced as she fell into the pool behind her. She flailed around blindly, until the liquid overcame her and she sank. It felt thick, like she was swimming in blood, but it was glowing silver. Kori opened her eyes a crack, and a strange veil had covered itself over her mind. It made her movements slow and choppy, but her body finally stopped responding to her mind, and the fog on her mind grew larger. There suddenly came a cold so deep, so frigid, she couldn't shiver, and quickly it was replaced with a burning fire so hot it made her feel like she was in an oven. And then a feeling of peace washed over her, like the kind of feeling you get when everything is going to be alright.

_What's… happening?_ she thought hazily, before the world turned black.

Above the surface, Daikirai watched Kori sink into the pool, staring in silence as finally her hand went under the surface without so much a bubble. He didn't have any expression on his face: he simply left without a sound, fading into the air, but only before uttering softly,

"Enjoy the gift… Koziahn Rikaino Tetsugaia."

* * *

It was fun to write Daikirai's past. n.n 

Till next time,  
_Kori Tetsugaia_


End file.
